I have bewen told that mushrooms pop up very quickly, within minutes, to full size. Has anyone time lapse photo'd the progress of mushrooms to determine how quickly they grow? Do they continue to grow after the 1st day?

Hi ya Dale...sorry but I don't buy in to the pop and full size thing that so many believe in.I think somewhere on here are some photos of morels that were taken over a two week span that shows they do grow some...I've left micros for a period and they grew as well and others stayed small....

Morels will continue to "stretch" long after day1, provided they have the right temps and moisture to keep the fruiting body supple enough to continue expansion. It's not growing as much as it is stretching, after it's broken the surface.

A larger specimen is likely to have thinner membranes than that of it's younger neighbor. It's similar to what happens when you blow up a balloon...

Morels don't just "pop" to full size right away. (I'm assuming you're asking about morel mushrooms because this thread is posted in the morel section.) That is a common urban legend. Some people believe it because they won't see morels in a particular spot one day and then see them there the next. The reality is that they missed them the first time.

It takes 5 days for a morel to reach 90% of it's full size. After 5 days growth is minimal or insignificant.

They will continue to grow after the first day, 80% of the time, if the conditions are good [moisture and temps]. I have just seen too many patches even with the right conditions that get to 5-6" overnight and I have left them and checked day after day for a week with no growth. The same rule applies .......morels make their own rules some of the time. The same can be said for greys always turn into yellows; that is not always true.

i beleive that relative humidity plays a very larg role in the speed and lenght of growth. for instance. we had a patch in a circle driveway of my sisters that grew decent morels they would pop nd grow good for a few days before withering at 4-6" on the same peice of land near the swamp on the hillside they would pop and reach 3-5 iches in a day and die out many days later at closer to 6-8"

youre absolutely correct relative humidity will determine how long they continue to grow...and tied to that is temperature as well.....temps go up, humidity goes down, cells begin to senesce and sporulation is activated....once sporulation begins, cellular division rapidly decreases and hence growth slows.

I've seen em grow up overnight, no I didn't miss em.

I've seen em never grow up.

I've seen em continue to grow over a week to two week period.

Like others have said it all depends on the habitat and weather in that specific lil spot of the woods.

Any large tract of woodlands, has many different if not hundreds of, microclimes, it all depends on hills, valleys and so forth, as certain valleys being deeper than others will remain colder than shallower ones, if they hold and contain water that has a significant impact on the surrounding areas, as they can cool or heat these areas rapidly or very slowly.
This has a large impact on the growth of certain shrooms, as some shrooms require periods of temperature increase and others need a temperature decrease to proliferate, in relating to morel growth this can be quite significant, a temp increase in high heat and little relative humidity will produce small stunted morels or cause them to blow up with little caps and long stipes, on the other hand a cold snap will cause alot of fat little morels but usually meaty, the worst case scenario is alot of heavy rain and high humidity, that will cause them to rot as they stand, but yes morels will grow after the first day of poping, they can have rapid or slower growth patterns that are determined by the weather, temps and food nutrients in the soil. bo

I posted pics in the photo section last year wer a morel about an inch tall grew to about 3" over a week. I had a total of 8 morels in my yard last year. 3 failed to grow beyond their size when found (1-2"), 2 grew about 2", and the other 3 grew to 5-6". The ones that grew were in partial shade. The slow growth ones were in total shade, and the non-growth ones were in nearly full sun.